Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Spring a year ago, Ed and I took a driving trip west from Lincoln into the Sandhills of Nebraska and on into the Black Hills of South Dakota, through the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore and Custer Parks and a few others.

I'm okay with people calling Kansas and Nebraska 'flyover states' and it seems to keep the riffraff out of the way while you enjoy the unbelievable scenery.

Here is the site of a German Prisoner of War camp during World War II.Local farmers would come to the camp for field workers.

The place is infinitely fascinating with history and lately I can't get enough of it.

Something in my center makes me feel at ease in the grassland and prairies.

It is hard to imagine the prairies treeless but you can read My Antonia and get a wonderful description of Nebraska through Willa Cather's eyes. Trees were brought in by settlers and people walking their way to the West, hoping to make homes.Buffalo Soldiers were stationed here.There are good things about this area and bad things - all concerning the Red Cloud Agency, Sioux, Lakota, and Cheyenne - and most definitely there can be sadness felt here.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Day 15 : RisingSince life seems to be getting in the way of the last 15 days of my challenge,I've taken to reworking my first few paintings.A good thing.I still get to paint only in smaller time blocksandI improve on the earlier works where I was experimenting with brushstrokes and color.This one had a weird row of field-like mess along the bottom.That's gone, the painting turned upside-down.Turquoise and Cobalt Blue mixed on the canvas.In these hot days of July we feel heat rising from the cut wheat fields.Above the ground - rising.Details : 12"x12"Oil on canvas

I am

A watercolorist, oil painter, metalsmith, a jewelry and lapidary artist, a maker, living the good life in rural Nebraska smack in the middle of corn, soybeans, wheat and grass, abundant sunshine and fresh air. Beautiful.